Colonel Ahmed Mansy ( ar, أحمد منسي, 1978–2017) was the commander of Egypt's

Sa'ka Forces , image = Sa'ka Forces logo.png , caption = , dates = 1956-present , country = , allegiance = , command_structure ...

( Special Forces) Thunderbolt Battalion 103, who was killed in action with several other members of his battalion on Friday, July 7, 2017, in a violent terrorist attack on an ambush in

North Sinai North Sinai Governorate ( ar, محافظة شمال سيناء ') is one of the governorates of Egypt. It is located in the north-eastern part of the country, and encompasses the northern half of the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered in the north b ...

's al-Barth village located between the border town of

Rafah Rafah ( ar, رفح, Rafaḥ) is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. It is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate, located south of Gaza City. Rafah's population of 152,950 (2014) is overwhelmingly made up of former Palestini ...

and

Sheikh Zuweid Sheikh Zuweid (also spelled Sheikh Zoweid, Shaykh Zuwayd, or Sheikh Zouède; ar, الشيخ زويد , , Greek: ''Bitulion'') is a Bedouin town in the North Sinai Governorate of Egypt near the border with the Gaza Strip. It is situated bet ...

town during the clashes between

Egyptian Armed Forces The Egyptian Armed Forces ( arz, القُوّات المُسَلَّحَة المِصْرِيَّة, alquwwat almusalahat almisria) are the military forces of the Arab Republic of Egypt. They consist of the Egyptian Army, Egyptian Navy, Egyptia ...

and Islamist militants affiliated to

ISIS Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...

. According to the Egyptian army spokesperson Tamer el-Rifa'i, the army besieged groups of terrorists and foiled attacks that targeted a number of other checkpoints in the Rafah area in North Sinai. The ambush got encircled by 13 armed vehicles carrying 100

Takfiris ''Takfiri'' ( ar, تَكْفِيرِيّ, ' lit. "excommunicational") is an Arabic and Islamic term denoting a Muslim who excommunicates one of his/her coreligionists, i.e. who accuses another Muslim of being an apostate. Since according to the ...

(terrorists who claim others are unbelievers). The outcome of the battle that lasted for hours was the killing of 46 takfiris and the destruction of six vehicles. Yet, 5 officers and 15 soldiers at the ambush were killed in action, including Colonel Mansi.

Life

He was born in 1978 in

Minya al-Qamh Minya El Qamh ( ar, منيا القمح, "''abode of the wheat''") is a city in Egypt. It is one of the biggest towns in Sharqia Governorate. The number of population in Minya el qamh is about 60,000 of which 20,000 are farmers in the nearest v ...

district in

al-Sharqiyya governorate Sharqia Governorate ( ar, محافظة الشرقية ', , rural: ) is the 3rd most populous of the governorates of Egypt. Located in the northern part of the country, its capital is the city of Zagazig. Overview Bilbeis is the former capital ...

. He joined the

Sa'ka Forces , image = Sa'ka Forces logo.png , caption = , dates = 1956-present , country = , allegiance = , command_structure ...

in the Nineties, immediately after his graduation from the

Egyptian Military Academy The Egyptian Military Academy ( ar, الكلية الحربية) is the oldest and most prominent military academy in Egypt. Traditionally, graduates of the Military Academy are commissioned as officers in the Egyptian Army. However, they may se ...

in 1998. He had served for a long time in the Special Forces Task Force Unit 999, which is the most powerful unit in Egypt's Thunderbolt Forces. In 2001, he joined the first Egyptian SEAL Team training and then he was selected to travel to the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

to join the United States Navy SEALs Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) Class 258 in 2006. Mansy obtained a master's degree in military science from the Command and Staff College, and he took over as commander of the 103rd Sa'ka (Thunderbolt) Forces Battalion in Sinai after the death of the battalion's former commander, Colonel Rami Hasanein, in October 2016. In 2016, he was awarded by the battalion during the month of Ramadan for his excellent performance and his military discipline.

TV series

Actor

Amir Karara Amir Karara ( ar, أمير محمد حسين كرارة; born 10 October 1977) is an Egyptian actor and TV presenter. His real beginning came during his presentation of ''Star Maker'' in 2003. Karara is best known for his dramatic and action role ...

played the biography of Colonel Ahmed Mansy in TV series titled "The Choice", which premiered in Ramadan 2020. The series has been a success in the Egyptian and Arab street, since its introduction at the beginning of the month of Ramadan 2020, and its events revolve around the death of the hero of the Egyptian armed forces, Colonel Ahmed Mansy. The events also cover the life of the terrorist

Hesham Ashmawy Hesham Ali Ashmawy Mos'ad Ibrahim ( ar, هشام عشماوي مسعد إبراهيم; 1978 – March 4, 2020) was a convicted terrorist who previously was an Egyptian Army officer, suspected by the government of having orchestrated and been inv ...

, an infamous former fellow officer who masterminded several terror attacks in Egypt before and after his escape to

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

, where he was eventually captured, returned to Egypt and sentenced to death.

Death & funeral

Actor Mohamed Ramadan attended his funeral, he said that it was a funeral of a hero who knows the real meaning of being an Egyptian. He said that he met Colonel Mansy twice during his enlistment in the

Egyptian armed forces The Egyptian Armed Forces ( arz, القُوّات المُسَلَّحَة المِصْرِيَّة, alquwwat almusalahat almisria) are the military forces of the Arab Republic of Egypt. They consist of the Egyptian Army, Egyptian Navy, Egyptia ...

Honour

President

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi; (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has served as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. Before retiring as a general in the Egyptian mil ...

inaugurated a floating bridge called "Martyr Ahmed Mansy" connecting the Eastern and Western shores of the Suez Canal in Zone 6 in the

Ismailia Governorate Ismailia Governorate is one of the Canal Zone governorates of Egypt. Located in the northeastern part of the country, its capital is the city of Ismailia. It was named after Ismail Pasha, who as Ottoman Viceroy of Egypt, oversaw the country dur ...

, achieving integration with ferries and undersea tunnels. el-Sisi also drew a comparison between Colonel Ahmed Mansy and Hesham Ashmawi, and said there is a huge difference between Mansy and Ashmawy, stressing that both were officers of the same Army Special Forces unit, but one of them chose to betray the country, while the other remained loyal.

References

External links

Remembering 103 battalion’s brave battle against IS in Sinai
—

Daily News Egypt ''Daily News Egypt'' (''DNE'') is an English-language daily Egyptian newspaper established in 2005 and relaunched in June 2012. Under former owner Egyptian Media Services, it was distributed with the '' International Herald Tribune'' as a supp ...

The last words of Ahmed Al-Mansi recorded in a WhatsApp message
—

Al Arabiya Arabiya ( ar, العربية, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is an international Arabic news television channel, currently based in Dubai, that is operated by the media conglomerate MBC. The channel is a fl ...